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Month: June 2010

When a majority of a political party gets in power – particularly ones that we like, we think everything in our country will go “The way it should be”. We thought that way in 1976 after the Watergate scandal. We thought that way in 1980 after the 52 American hostages were freed in Iran. We even thought that way as recently as 2008 when Obama took office. The problem is that we the people continually overlook the one thing that will keep our country safe, prosperous, and able to defend itself – the leader’s character.

A leader’s character says as much about the leader as it does about the people who elect them. What does the election of Barack Obama have to say about us as a people? As an observer and commentator I think it says quite a few things:

We are attracted to the superficial.

We enjoy the comfort of ease rather than the work of planning.

We would rather be entertained than enlightened.

We loathe critical thought.

We hate accountability.

Most of all, we think that standards are subjective and not absolute.

It is because we as Americans have distanced ourselves from the absolute truths of the Word of God and to a great degree how our Founding Fathers viewed, perceived, and acted on what the Bible teaches. Because of this, we now find ourselves in a social, moral, and political cesspool. This is no different than the son who spent his inheritance on riotous living and would wind up in the pig pen serving the very thing he was taught to avoid (see Luke 15:11-32).

We as a nation are that son. Like that son, we must have an epiphany or in Biblical terms come to ourselves, and return to our Father – God. We have proven to the world that our “fall from grace” wasn’t because we “had it coming”. It was because we chose to walk towards a cliff and deceived ourselves thinking that we can walk on thin air without God’s help. How mistaken we have been. If we as a nation, now being on the ground where the world can look, snicker and jeer at us, call on God for forgiveness and display genuine repentance, God would then raise us up. He would not do this to prove that we can do anything, but that He can do everything.

As Abraham Lincoln called this nation into repentance, so we should call our political and spiritual leaders to do the same. Always remember that repentance, like authority never flows from the bottom up.

Our Founding Fathers put forth after much debating, many fortunes being lost and much bloodshed two documents for us to live by: the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. As we are approaching the 234th year of our founding a weed had sprouted up in our Garden of Liberty – Sharia Law.

Sharia Law does not follow the Rule of Law as we know it in America. They have their own brand of justice and their own court system. One of the scariest things I have seen is not the American influence on Sharia Law but the influence of Sharia Law on American citizens that is enforced on them by local police departments. Below is a video that documents such an event. Take note the number of demonstrators, where they are located and the number of police that arrived on the scene.

When this type of harassment is being enacted on American citizens on American soil, it is an indicator we are about 2-3 steps away from a dictatorship. Let this video serve as a warning to the Church, it is time to get off your knees an into the game. Do not be blinded by your spiritual leadership that everything that happens is “God’s Will” and cite Romans 8:28 to back it up. If they do, cite Proverbs 29:2: When the righteous are in power, the people rejoice, when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. Ask them how much happiness do they see? Is it not an indication that the righteous are not in power? Never forget this: Righteousness or wickedness does not come into power by God’s will. It is by your choice. As a proof text that what I’m saying is true, the State of Oklahoma has ballot measure SQ755 or the “Save our State” initiative. The measure would force the courts in Oklahoma to make rulings based strictly on Oklahoman and U.S. Constitutional law. International or Sharia law can not be used in their rulings. Here is the complete context of the ballot initiative. The underlined portion in Section C is the State Constitutional change:

Section 1. A. The judicial power of this State shall be vested in the Senate, sitting as a Court of Impeachment, a Supreme Court, the Court of Criminal Appeals, the Court on the Judiciary, the State IndustrialWorkers’ Compensation Court, the Court of Bank Review, the Court of Tax Review, and such intermediate appellate courts as may be provided by statute, District Courts, and such Boards, Agencies and Commissions created by the Constitution or established by statute as exercise adjudicative authority or render decisions in individual proceedings. Provided that the Court of Criminal Appeals, the State IndustrialWorkers’ Compensation Court, the Court of Bank Review and the Court of Tax Review and such Boards, Agencies and Commissions as have been established by statute shall continue in effect, subject to the power of the Legislature to change or abolish said Courts, Boards, Agencies, or Commissions. Municipal Courts in cities or incorporated towns shall continue in effect and shall be subject to creation, abolition or alteration by the Legislature by general laws, but shall be limited in jurisdiction to criminal and traffic proceedings arising out of infractions of the provisions of ordinances of cities and towns or of duly adopted regulations authorized by such ordinances.

B. Subsection C of this section shall be known as the "Save Our State Amendment".

C. The Courts provided for in subsection A of this section, when exercising their judicial authority, shall uphold and adhere to the law as provided in the United States Constitution, the Oklahoma Constitution, the United States Code, federal regulations promulgated pursuant thereto, established common law, the Oklahoma Statutes and rules promulgated pursuant thereto, and if necessary the law of another state of the United States provided the law of the other state does not include Sharia Law, in making judicial decisions. The courts shall not look to the legal precepts of other nations or cultures. Specifically, the courts shall not consider international law or Sharia Law. The provisions of this subsection shall apply to all cases before the respective courts including, but not limited to, cases of first impression.

We as Americans need to wake up to the reality that there are people who don’t think and act the way we do and want to silence us in every way, up to incarceration and death. Do not romanticize the Bible saying to yourself, “If Jesus did it and Paul did it then it’s good enough for me. Please understand that they suffered what they suffered so you don’t have to. They lived under dictatorships so you don’t have to.

I have said it before and in here it bears repeating. When you as a member of the Church in America stand before God and He asks the question, “What did you do with the freedom that I gave you”? What will be your response? Choose wisely America while you still have the freedom to do so.

I just read that the State of Louisiana has declared June 20,2010 as a State Day of Prayer (State Resolution 145) for themselves as well as the Gulf Region. Here is the entire resolution:

A RESOLUTION

To recognize and declare Sunday, June 20, 2010, as a Statewide Day of Prayer for Louisiana and for the population and region surrounding the Gulf of Mexico, in particular those people affected by the environmental and economic disasters that erupted in the aftermath of BP Deepwater Horizon oil leak.

WHEREAS, in times of great distress and need, we, the people of this land, have always turned to private, public, and corporate prayer; and

WHEREAS, a Statewide Day of Prayer provides each of us with a powerful opportunity to humble ourselves before our Almighty God; and

WHEREAS, the citizens of Louisiana are urged to pray for a solution to this crisis, each according to his or her own faith, to pray for God’s continued guidance and protection, and to join in the observance of a day of prayer, seeking God’s blessings upon both our state and nation; and

WHEREAS, although there exists a great diversity of types of prayer, prayer is always about calling upon God, and prayers woven together through common effort can themselves become an awesome and powerful force; and

WHEREAS, a day of unified, intercessory prayer, by and for those people living throughout the regions around the Gulf of Mexico, to pray for an end to this environmental emergency, sparing us all from the destruction of both culture and livelihood; and

WHEREAS, untold millions of people, not only in regions surrounding the Gulf of Mexico, but throughout the world, will be affected by this event; a crisis that remains unaffected by the efforts of mortal man; and

WHEREAS, we now turn our attention and our prayers to the present circumstances and humble ourselves before Almighty God.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby designate Sunday, June 20, 2010, as a Statewide Day of Prayer for Louisiana and for the population and region surrounding the Gulf of Mexico.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate of Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge the citizenry of the state and all people of faith throughout the United States and the world to give personal thanks, each according to his faith, for the blessings we have received, for God’s continued guidance during these trying times, and for God’s grace to bring an end to the devastation.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Senate of Legislature of Louisiana calls upon the people of Louisiana to join each other and the entire community that is linked by the Gulf of Mexico in this unified expression of faith and hope.

This document is a proof text that the children of darkness are wiser than the children of light. As corrupt politically , morally and spiritually (remember there is very high concentration of voodoo there because of the slave trade) as the State of Louisiana is, even they have enough sense to call on God. Sadly, it took an oil spill to do it.

We as a nation have watched in sheer horror the amount of ecological and environmental damage that this oil spill has caused. The question I have for the Church in America is that could this disaster been avoided if those in the pulpit and those in the pew heard, read and exercised Proverbs 29:2? I believe the answer is a resounding “Yes”. To the Pastor/Priest it up to you to hear from God and obey what you hear. To those in the pew it is up to you understand God’s Word, recognize that your leadership is hearing from God through discernment, prayer, and the studying of the Scriptures and follow them if they do, hold them accountable if they don’t.

If we all do what God has called us to do: Hold ourselves accountable as well as our spiritual and political leadership, THEN God will hear from Heaven, forgive our sin, and heal our land. If this is not done, we will stay in the mess we’re in and the judgments will keep on coming until we “get it” or we are destroyed.

One thing we have been admonished in the Church is that we research and vote for the candidate whose track record or promises mirror the closest to Scripture. That day of action came last Tuesday.

A number of states last week had their primaries. One of those states was California. A very tight race between Tom Campbell, Carly Fiorina, and Chuck De Vore. While Campbell, and Fiorina were known for their fiscal conservatism as well as their social liberalism, only Chuck was not only a fiscal conservative but a social conservative as well.

The question I have for the Church in California is that if the prayer of God was the raising up a candidate so that you can vote for had materialized on Tuesday June 8, 2010, why did you not vote for Chuck? Lets run through the checklist:

Chuck believes in Jesus

Chuck believes in children having a right to live inside the womb.

Chuck believes marriage should be between a man and a woman.

Chuck believes a government should live within its means and not become a burden to the taxpayer.

Chuck stepped down as the Minority Whip (a very prestigious position) due to actions in his party that were against his character.

All of these traits plus a host of others that we as believers were looking for, Chuck possessed. Yet sadly, you chose Carly over him. Is it the fact that Sarah Palin endorsed Carly (remember, Carly was her campaign manager in her Vice Presidential run in 2008)? Is the lie that was perpetrated and you believed that you must compromise your beliefs “a little bit” in order for the party to take back “control”?

As a Believer our mission is not to put a party back in control, our mission is to put God back in control. I know that the religious response is, “God is always in control”. As I stated in my post last week, “If you voted in the last election, there was no place for you to kneel in the voting booth. You took a “stand” and made a choice”. The Holy Spirit did not push the button, pull the lever, or punched the card. You did that. Since you did that, you will have to live with this choice. The saddest part of this commentary is that those who did chose wisely will have to live with your choice also.

You cry out for deliverance from evil politicians, however, when a godly candidate is presented, you choose evil. So, the next time you get affected by the evil plans of the ungodly, then you have no right to complain. How can you say you want deliverance when it is presented and you chose to stay bound?

Answer to prayer make not come in the most shiniest, slickest, or most appealing package. Sometimes answer to prayer comes in the most ordinary of wrappings. This election has told me that the level of discernment in the Church is very low. At this juncture, all I can hope for is the either candidate whether its Boxer or Fiorina, will not further the destruction of this state or nation. 2012 is fast approaching. We need to raise our level of discernment up and have it honed to a razor sharp edge before it is truly too late for our country.

In the first five months of this year, we as a nation have been affected by earthquakes, floods, a volcanic eruption and now a gigantic oil slick with no immediate remedy in sight. While the Church may point to this as being signs of the end – as it very well may be, I see it not only as possibly being that, but more so as a judgment from God.

Why? Because I see both our spiritual and political leadership thumbing their collective noses at God. Saying, “We are Americans“. “We can get through anything”. This type of posturing towards God put this nation in general and the Church in particular on very dangerous ground with God. You can tell a lot about a nation based on what they love, rather than what they hate:

We love to think we are all-sufficient.

We love to think we are right all the time.

We love our money.

We love our games.

We love our pleasure.

These were all the signs that ancient Rome displayed before they fell. The only difference is that the government has not exercised its full weight and authority to persecute Christians – yet. As it has been stated before, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

The Church STILL have not learned 5 years after Katrina that prayer and fasting alone will not get this country back on track. We must learn to put the Lord first, instead the politician or the congregant first. For that to happen you must love what He loves and hate what He hates. As an example, the Lord loves Israel. So why would you allow your congregants to elect people into public office that have gone on public record via word or action that they hate Israel?

To prove this, a prophet named Lance Lambert gave a prophecy regarding more serious judgments coming. He gave this prophecy on April 18, 2010. Two days later the BP oil spill happened. The judgments on America will become greater in intensity. The only way judgments can be stopped is that those who are called into leadership in the Church recognize what you have done and let the congregation SEE you fall on your face and repent before God. They in turn will follow your lead.

It is time for the Black Robe Regiment to be reconstituted and to stand up and protect the rights and privileges that God has afforded us. We no longer can take an indifferent point of view of government – regardless if you are in the pulpit or the pew, you are being charged by God to take action. Do not make the mistake of saying to yourself or others, “The only action I have to take is on my knees”. That is an outright lie and a cop out. If you voted in the last election, there was no place for you to kneel in the voting booth. You took a “stand” and made a choice. That choice is coming around again in June for the primary and in November for the general election. We as a nation have been in anguish and under judgment for the last 18 months. If you make the wrong choice this time around , you can not claim deception. You can not claim the influence of evil. You can only claim that you want a king to rule over you just like the men of the city did (see I Samuel 8:5).

Your choice in the elections this year will be an eternal testament to God and to yourself, who do you really want in control of your life – God or government? Choose Wisely. It will be the most important and possibly the last choice you will make as a free person.